3870 or 9600gt pls help me

oh buy the way ,i want to play the new dx10 games (crysis,cod4....)
but i have a crt monitor so i wont be playing in very high resolutions ...

If youve got a SLI mobo then an nvidia crad would be agood idea. I'd save a bit more and go for the 8800gt instead. It'll last you longer, seeing as it has more shader power over the 9600gt, and oc'd it'll be nearing 512mb gts speeds.

I don't know who is telling you the HD3870 is better. The 3870 and 9600GT trade blows depemding on the game and settings. If anything the 9600GT is cheaper, and you have an SLI mobo, so I'd suggest you buy the 9600GT (or 8800GS, 8800GT, 8800GTS G92).

FYI, the Palit 9600GT is now $110 AR. I just ordered one this morning.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

^ ... Lots of people tell that the 3870 is better .......... and it is... but only at higher resolutions (>1280x1024) ....

Anyways i agree with pauldh and spoonboy....avoid this dilemma altogether and get a 8800GT ... its a stellar card for that price. And SLI'd 8800GT is quite bombastic.

I'd go for the Nvidia, but like everyone else, I'd look for a nice, cheap 8800GT.

GEEEZEZ! that is cheap. I'm starting to hear some good things from Palit. Where are they from?

3870 VS 9600gt.... THey do trade blows depending on game. Unless you know the games you play are going to benefit from the 3870 I'd get the 9600GT because its much cheaper.

Honestly I'd pony up for a 8800GT. You will be VASTLY more impressed and it will have a longer life with games than the other 2. This one is my fav 8800GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The more and more I hear about Palit, the more I like them. I don't have a Palit card but it looks like they are putting out real top notch products. The fact that they are taking on the big names like ASUS, XFX, and EVGA says that they mean business and aren't going to mess around with selling junk.

Same here. I like the look of their upgraded coolers on some cards. They seem to be on the right track. I'll just let the guinea pigs... erhhh up other people try them out first.

9600GT for $110?? My god...thats a great deal  

What model PSU do you have? If it is only 450w you need to make sure it has the amps to run a good gaming card. If it doesn't your PC will shut down when the graphics card is being heavily used.

It's MADNESS! Granted the cooler looks a little weak and and doesn't cover the RAM so i wouldn't suggest it much for overclocking the memory. But for a solid cheap card.. come on.

9600GT is not THAT much worse than 8800GT and with current prices i wouldnt buy 8800GT as the GTS is like only $30 more for a good performance increase.

As for the 3870,well 9600GT performs better with AF and AA so i think that's the obvious option given you have a CRT.

I hope you guys don't mind me asking a few questions here but k_daredevil's thread is perfect timing. I need to replace my old X800GTO. It is rock solid, never giving me issues but it is time to upgrade. Here is the thing: My system is a 939 with 2 gigs of OCZ Plantinum, Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and a 550 watt psu with dual 12v rails @19A. I have to keep this going; would love to have a new system but can't afford one.

Anyway, my ViewSonic is maxed at resolution settings of 1280x1024. This is the nature of this monitor though it is very good quality wise.

Question: I have been looking at 8800GTs but since it is 512/256 and my resolution won't exceed 1280x1024 32bbp would the Palit that is linked be a better choice for my system? It certainly would be a whole lot easier on my budget! I am no fanboi of either Nvidia or ATI; I have used both and I have been successful with both. Yes, I like to game.  

Thanks and I'll appreciate any suggestions.

my psu is green model:gp300 s4_d24 but couldn't find any reviews about it so could you pls help me if you found out what kinda psu it is?
actually i am so ashamed that i didnt know anything about psu's when i got it so i couldnt get anything better!!!!!   

I'd honestly get the palit's 9600GT in my link and then start saving money for a total overhaul. Your system probably wouldn't take much advantage of anything highend and start to bottleneck it. Just get a good cheap card since you are on low res and save your money for a total system. It seems like a steal.

i just picked up an evga 8800gt for $175 after 30mir from newegg on monday. it came yesterday but played golf after work and too tired to install it. benched my 7950gt in hl2:lc, coh and 3dmark06. will do the same with 8800gt and post results - can't wait.

actually i agree with you and i found some nice ones
but the thing is that i have a 450 watt psu .....and i dont know if it can run a 8800gt what's the power consumption of it?

Thanks. I am going to pull the trigger on this right now. I was looking at this card in late March and I could have gotten it for $120 and I kicked myself for missing out on a great deal. Thanks to pauldh for posting that link because if you go to the regular webpage with this card in a list of cards that rebate doesn't show until your specifically click onn the card itself.

Boy am I glad I came here today!

Well Palit own Gainward, I don't know how long they've owned them for, but there's plenty of experience there.

I own a Palit 8800GT reference card and it runs well and quiet. And it benchmarks well, price/performance ratio.

Well, if priced the same my money would go toward the HD3870. But I don't consider it the better performer really. In this level card FSAA performance matters more to me that pure speed performance. And the 9600GT can match the HD3870 with FSAA. Look at Firingsquads review and the HD3870 can only manage wins in Oblivion and Lost Planet. http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt_...

Still, I know other reviews show the HD3870 a bit better. I just think they are pretty much on par with one another from a performance standpoint. So given the current USA prices I like the cheaper 9600GT, especially for someone with an SLI mobo. Then it seems a no brainer. Two 9600GT pretty much beat any single GPU card, even the 9800GTX. If it were an X38 mobo and the OP mentioned Crossfire hopes, then yeah we could argue it would be worth the $160ish for the HD3870 instead. Otherwise $115 shipped AR makes the 9600GT hard to beat.
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_9800_gtx...